Emotional Eyes
by Lithiah18
Summary: A few hundred years ago, lived the Outcast tribe. This special group of humans went through a Metamorphesis in their teenage years, called Bursting. Now in modern day, one boy finds himself questioning who he, or she, is after thier burst.
1. Chapter 1 & 2

Chapter 1

I sat in the History lesson, bored. I was twirling my pencil in and around my fingers, whiles looking at the clock.

"10 Minutes" I said to myself, yawning.  
Suddenly, a shadow appeared over me, I turned my head up to see an annoyed, bald, history teacher.

"Is my lesson boring you _Mrs_.Tyler" He said, with an emphasis on the Mrs, which made the whole class laugh. This annoyed me, I hated when people used my appearance as an insult.

"Not your lesson, It's just you" I retaliated, a slight hiss in my voice.

"Right, Detention" He said, probably wanting to smirk.

"Perfect, thank you" I said sweetly sarcastic.

My problem was I had a little trouble controlling my emotions. Wasn't too big of a problem, but I ended up shooting my mouth off too much.

I should introduce myself, my names Tyler Dale, I live in a small town called Tarason, and I attend The Tarason Mixed High School. By mixed, I just don't mean gender or religion, I mean species. There are a special group of humans that at some point, when they go through their teenage years, they go through a process called Bursting. This bursting is like a metamorphosis, where their body starts to dramatically change. This change is unique to each person, depending on their personality and traits. Some also receive a gift, a special ability of sorts. This group of humans are called Outcasts. Not as an insult, but it was believed the original group of humans who were the first to burst was part of some tribe called Outcast. I am one of these outcasts, though I have yet to go through my burst.

The bell rang and I picked up my bag, walking out of the classroom, shooting a look at Mr.Parst, or Mr.Past, as some students had nicknamed him.

I walked down the hall, going towards the detention room. I was use to having detentions, but it annoyed me slightly because I was supposed to be going to the creative writing group today.

I saw Abby, a member of the creative writing group pass me in the hall.  
"Your going wrong way" She said, not stopping.

"No I'm not" I said, also not stopping.

"You've got detention again?" She said not surprised, and turned around.  
"He called me Mrs.Tyler!" I said and sighed.

"I guess I'll tell the group then" She said, turning back.

"Tell them sorry" I said, also starting to walk again.

I was part of a creative writing group; through I had missed a lot of sessions. I always loved reading and when I turned 14, I started writing. It came natural to me and I have been praised for it on a few occasions.

I walked into the Detention room and sat down.

"Ok Tyler, What did you do this time" Mrs.Barker asked, seeing me walk in.

"I made a smart comment at Mr.Parst" I said truthfully.

The reason why Mr.Parst called me Mrs was because of my appearance. I have shoulder length brown hair that usually nice and straight, and I'm also a little slender and androgynous looking. For this Mr.Parst used it against me, knowing that I wouldn't have much chance of getting him done for it.

"You need to learn how to control that mouth of yours. For now, just get on with something to keep you busy" She said, walking off to check on other students.

I didn't mind Mrs.Barker as much as some of the other teachers here. She was nice, especially for a Human.

I got out a notebook and opened it up, flicking to a page and getting a pencil out.

"Emotions of the Eyes?" A girl next to me said, seeing the title of the poem, although the poem only had a few lines to it. I immediately closed my book, not liking people to read my stuff.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to invade your privacy" The girl said, sounding truthful.

"I'm just a little self conscious, I don't show many people my work" I said, looking down. To be truthful, I was self conscious of a lot of things, my appearance included, but I hid that with the comments I made.

"I'm Katie" She said and smiled.

"Tyler" I said, giving a small smile back.

For a while, me and Katie talked. With most teachers we would have got in trouble for that, but since it was Mrs.Barker, she was okay with it, as long as it kept us out of trouble. Soon enough, it was our time to go, as we left the detention room. The halls were cleared of students, except the few who stayed for after school activates.  
"So, where do you live?" Katie asked, as we left the school.

"Barrowman lane" I said, looking up at the sky. Grey clouds filled the sky, with not much sunlight beaming though.

"That's not far from mine" Katie said smiling.  
"Fancy going home together?" She asked, smiling a little. I think she is flirting, but I can't tell.

"Might as well, were both need to go home and live in the same direction" I said jokingly.

"So...I hope you don't mind me asking, but is that your burst, the androgynous look?" Katie said from no where, which took me off guard.  
"Um, no, it's just me...I haven't burst yet" I said, feeling embarrassed. Most people burst in there early teens, but I took after my mom, and am a late burster.  
"I'm just human, so I'm just stuck like this" Katie said, looking at the floor.  
"Well, this is my house, um; want to come in" I said, feeling a little dizzy.  
"Are you okay" She said, seeing me loose my footing.

"Yeah, I'm just feeling a little dizzy" I said, trying to balance myself.

Katie put her arm around me, helping me walk into my house.

"Tyler, what's wrong?" a young girl, a couple years older than me said.

"Just a little dizzy Jess, oh, this is my friend, Katie" I said, as I my head was still spinning.

"I'll just help him upstairs." Katie said, helping me up the stairs as I directed her to my room.

After my bedroom door was shut, Katie helped me onto my bed.  
"Your sister seems nice" Katie said.

"She's um...my mom" I said, a little embarrassed.

"It was her burst; she ages much more slowly than most. She ages 1 year for every 8 years that pass" I explained, before Katie got wrong idea.  
"Wow, I heard about having youthful looking moms but..." she said, as I giggled at the joke.

"Thanks for helping me, but I'm feeling tired" I said and yawned, starting to lie down.

"Alright, I'll go. I'll see you at school some time" Katie said, as she left my bedroom, with me falling to sleep.

Chapter 2

The next morning, I woke up feeling really bad. I was still a little dizzy and I had a headache. I looked at time and panicked. I had 15 minutes to get ready and go to school. I got changed out of my clothes, since they were a little sweaty, and then ran down stairs.  
"Why didn't you wake me" I complained to Jess. I called her Jess instead of mom, because I found it a little weird seeing as she only looked a few years older. She said she was alright with it as well.

"Sorry, you looked a little under the weather. I was going to ring the school and say you were sick, I already told my work" She said, sounding concerned.

"I've go to meet the people from my Writing group, I had to miss yesterday thanks to detention, I cant miss in lesson as well" I said, rushing around, even though I had little balance.

"But I think..." Jess tried to say, but before she could finish, I was heading towards the door.  
"Sorry, I feel okay though, I'll see you later" I said, attaching the roller blade attachments to my shoes so I could get there quicker.

I lost my balance a few times, but managed to keep myself from doing any actual harm. I reached the school and jumped the school steps, planning on slowing down in the hall and then taking the attachments off. Unluckily, I slipped as I landed and crashed into the lockers.

"Ouch" I said, rubbing my head.

"TYLER DALE, NO ROLLERBLADING IN THE HALL" a teacher yelled at me, taking me a while to realise which one. It was Mr.Pye, my old biology teacher.

"Urhh" I moaned, rubbing my head. As I took off my rollerblade attachments.  
"I was going to be late" I moaned, trying to stand up.

"Well you...Are you okay, you look terrible" Mr.Pye said, looking at me.

"Really, I thought I looked dashing" I said sarcastically, walking off towards my lesson. I knew he was just concerned, but I felt terrible, never mind just looking it.

Over the course of the morning I felt worse. I managed to do the English lesson with my Writing group, and I made more of advancement on my poem.

"Right, so how about this.

Emotions of the Eyes

These eyes of mine

They tell the truth

When the mouth lies

The emotions of my soul

Can be seen in these eyes

That are said to belong to another

Eyes for a girl

But in a boys head

Eyes that speak no lies

Eyes that shine red

With hair to match for anger

Eyes that shine a sky blue

With hair blond to show happiness  
Eyes that shine pink

With hair to match to show love

Eyes that shine hazelnut brown

With hair to match that shows balance

Eyes that are dull grey

With hair to match, to show weakness

Eyes of black

With hair just as, to show depression

Eyes of White

With hair to match, to show..." I said, not being able to continue.

For one, I had only written that far, but more not being able to actually finish.

I was really feeling bad.

"Tyler, what's wrong?" Jay asked me, running over from the other side of the room with Danni.

Jay and Danni were my best friends at school. I had known Joe since the start of school, and I knew Danni for a couple of years. Jay had already burst, but Danni was a late burster like I was.

"I...I Don't know" I said, feeling something indescribable.

"You don't think..." Danni said, looking at Jay, who nodded,

"He's Bursting" He said.

And as he finished that statement, pain shot through me, as I collapsed, loosing consciousness.


	2. Chapter 3 & 4

Chapter 3

I started to wake up, a little twitchy. I felt no pain anymore, in fact, I felt ticklish. I sat up slowly, my eyes adjusting. I knew I was defiantly different, but I couldn't tell what.

"D..Dont push yourself" I heard a nervous yet soothing voice say.  
"H..Hi mommy" I said, lifting my head up, a small smile on my face.

"Are you alright" Jess said, still sounding worried.

"Yeah, I feel great, so, what's new" I said, giggling.

"Um...well..." jess said, not knowing what to say so motioning towards my own body.

I looked downwards, seeing 2 breasts on my chest, that I was pretty sure wasn't there before.

"So..."I said, and putting my hand down, and feeling the absence of something else.  
"I'm a Girl" I said, giggling.

"Urh, your taking this surprisingly well" Jess said, a little more relaxed. "But is that normal?" She asked, turning towards the school nurse.

"It depends; a lot can change through bursting. It puts strain on your mind as well as your body. Then again, this might just be temporary, from the adrenalin rush that comes with bursting" she explained.

Whiles they were talking, I walked towards the mirror, loosing my balance a couple times.

"Wow" I said, looking at myself in the mirror.

My hair seemed about a foot and a half longer, and it was blond, and my eyes were a sparkling blue colour.

"Okay, that's enough mirror time" Jess said, moving me back to the bed.

"Awwwrr" I complained, sticking my bottom lip out, which made Jess nearly fall over with laughter.

"Wait...If I'm a girl, I need a new name, Tyler isn't girly enough" I said, thinking.

"Just leave that a while, there's other things you need to worry about first" The nurse said.

"Oh, like what?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

"The aftershocks" She said, turning to Jess.  
"Yeah, I forgot about that then" Jess said, sounding worried again.

"His...Her body's been through a lot, so had her mind probably. The aftershocks are going to be bad, I think it might be wise to be prepared to call a doctor if things get too bad" The nurse said.

"There really going to be that bad...I knew...When I saw her...They would be bad, but that bad" Jess said, sounding more nervous.

I jumped off the bed again and hugged Jess

"I'm sure its going to be alright, look, there's a butterfly" I said, smiling and looking out the window which made Jess giggle lightly.  
"I think its time you went home. We've got a spare school uniform for cases of Bursting, the box is under the bed, find your size and feel free to keep it" The nurse said smiling.

"Thank you" I beamed delightly.

I reached under and started looking through for my size. I found it and started getting dressed.

The school uniform was a white blouse, with a blue blazer and a blue pleated skirt. I got dressed and looked in the mirror as well.

"Kawaii" I said grinning, looking at myself.

"Ka-what?" Jess said, looking at me weird.

"Kawaii, it's Japanese for cute" I said twirling around in front of the mirror.

Jess smiled and shook her head.

"Alright, lets go" she said, taking my hand and walking me out of the door.

"Thanks" I said to the nurse before leaving.

"The school phoned me up after you burst. I was going to tell you to stay home today, cause I was afraid that you would burst today, I noticed the symptoms earlier" Jess explained as we got into the car, though it was noticeable my mind was elsewhere.

"Okay, what's up now?" She said, looking at me oddly.

"Everything looks bigger...DID EVERYTHING GROW!" I said, looking around.

"No, you shrunk" Jess said, sighing.

We entered the car and jess started driving, I sat there, unusually (for the new me) quiet.

"As time goes on

We all change

But like the sun shine

Were always the same

And like the sunshine

We can be full of fun

Even when the sun goes down

Cause the moon reflects the sun" I said, looking out the window.

Jess looked over at me, and smiled.

"Same old artistic instincts" She said smiling.

"Yeah, that's what I was saying, we change, but a part of us will always be the same" I explained, smiling.

Chapter 4

I was laid in my bed. My body was sweating and my breathing was stiff and hard.

"Arrrrh" I cried in pain and another pain shot through me.

Jessica was next to me, cooling my head with a wet cloth.

I had begun the Aftershocks, and it was not nice. Pain kept shooting through me, and I could not pass out. After you burst you get aftershocks, but you are not able to pass out from it, so you have to be awake to the pain throughout the process. People haven't figured out why we have these, but they were called aftershocks because they seemed similar to the ones like earthquakes.

"I'm...Okay" I said smiling slightly, and then wincing.

"I...I" I said, and then felt something different. Pain shot through me, but I felt something else with it, I felt...fuzzy. It left within 30 seconds, but I felt different. I felt vulnerable, self conscious; my hand was shaking with fear and another pain stroke through me. I screamed even louder, tears coming out my eyes.

"Oh god, I'm getting a doctor" Jess said and stood up,  
"NO!" I screamed, grabbing hold of her shirt.  
"Don't leave me..Please" I said, still shaking, as another pain shot through me as I screamed again.

"Okay" Jess said, seeing me in a totally different light, but that's not else she saw different in me.

"You're...your hair" she said, grabbing a few stands and showing me.

My hair was a dark grey colour now.

"And your eyes...There the same" she said, wondering how this happened.

"Wha...Why" I said, but then screamed in pain again.

"Shhhh..." Jess soothed, wetting the cloth and putting it on my head again.

The aftershocks continued through the night, up until the early hours of the morning, when they finally weakened enough that I could pass out and go to sleep.

I awoke in the morning still feeling shoots of pain, but these were only enough to make me flinch now. I curled up in a ball and shut my eyes.

"This is just a horrible dream" I said to myself, not wanting to face the truth.

I heard a knock on the door and heard it open.  
"Are you awake?" Jess said quietly.

"Yea.." I said from beneath the sheets.

"Come up...I need to see you" She said, walking over and sitting on the side of my bed.  
"No...I don't want to" I said in a whisper.

"Please, I just want to see if your...still the same" she said, and I slowly came out from beneath the covers.

"Yeah...Still the same" She said, seeing my hair and eyes.

She looked at me, sensing that I was upset.

"Don't you want to have a look?" She said, gesturing towards the mirror.  
"No.." I said, not wanting to face anything.

"You're going to have to face yourself sometime, you seemed alright with everything yesterday" She said, as I looked away.

I said nothing; I reached over and brought my pillow to me, hugging it tightly.

"I'll made breakfast, please, just take a look" Jess said, as she stood up and walked towards the door.  
"You still look beautiful...my daughter" she said, shutting the door behind her.

I saw there hugging my pillow, and stood up.

"I owe her so much, she really looked after me last night...I'm going to do it for her" I said to myself, dropping the pillow and walking towards the mirror.

I closed my eyes as I approached the mirror. When I thought I was standing in front of it, I opened it, and looked at the reflection looking back.

"Is this me, this is me, not what I use to be, but what I am now, what was I, who was I" I said, looking at myself.

I stayed there for 15 minutes, not saying anything, just looking at myself. But not like yesterday, I saw every imperfection, everything that wasn't right, and everything that I didn't like.

"Breakfasts ready" Jess called me.

I turned away from the mirror and put my dressing gown on, seeing as I had nothing else to wear. I walked into the kitchen, and sat down at the table.

"I looked" I said, as Jess put my breakfast in front of me. She smiled and then saw what I was wearing.  
"Were going to have to buy you new clothes soon, all your old clothes will be too big on you now" Jess said.

"But...not today...not that as well" I said, referring to the appointment she got me at the clinic.

Most of the time, you'd wait around a week for yourself to get use to the new you, but in some more important cases, you would have to go next day. Jess was afraid my body was unstable, and that's why I switched hair and eye colours, and my sudden mood swing.

"Not if you don't feel upto it, i'm sure it won't hurt to leave it another day" Jess said, as we started to eat breakfast.

After breakfast, I got changed into the school uniform again, it being my only piece of clothing. Then we got back in the car, and started driving to the clinic.

"Even though the suns ever shining

Dark clouds cover up that sunshine

And create saddening rain

The darker world, where you see

The imperfections of yourself

and it hurts all the more" I said, absent mind idly, as Jess looked over to me.  
"Another poem...A Darker one" she said, her voice sounding nervous once again


	3. Chapter 5 & 6

Chapter 5

We reached the clinic; it was a special clinic that dealt with the newly bursted. We got out the car door and started to walk towards the doors. I really didn't want to do this.  
"It'll be alright, I'll be with you the whole time" Jess said, as we walked in.

We walked up to the reception desk and Jess told them about our appointment. We could go through straight away and didn't have to wait. We walked into a small room. There were a few windows with the blinds open, and the walls were painted a soothing blue colour. This room looked safe, and I guessed they did that for a reason.

There was a tall woman, who was sitting on her chair as we entered.

"Hello, I'm Dr.Naomi" She said, holding her hand out.

I hesitated at first, but then took it, slowly shaking her hand.

"Alright, I think its best we get straight to the point, and i'm sorry if this upsets you, but it'll need to be said" Dr.Naomi said to me, as I nodded.

"From what your mom told us. Yesterday during school you burst. It changed your gender and Appearance. You had blond hair and blue eyes, and a positive attitude. Then during the aftershocks, your hair and eyes turned grey, and your personality changed. You became more self conscious, more scared. You became more dependent on the support of your mother" Dr.Naomi said, making sure she had all the facts.

"Yes...Yesterday she was fascinated by what had happened, she seemed almost happy. When she woke up this morning though, she could hardly look at herself" Jess said concern in her voice.

"We'll do some tests, It's not likely that your unstable, but in this case I think it's better to check" Dr.Naomi said, as I slowly nodded.

"Oh...Have you decided on a new name?" She asked, as my mom looked at me.  
"Um...A...Alyxis...maybe Alyx or.. Aly for short" I said, a slight tremble in my voice.

"Nice name" Jess said smiling, which put me a little at ease.

"Alright Aly. I'm just going to have to give you an Injection" Dr.Naomi said, getting out a needle.

"N..n..no" I said, starting to back up against my chair.

"I'm sorry, I need to" Dr.Naomi said, walking slowly towards me, probably not trying to scare me.

"Aly...It's alright" Jess said, holding onto my hand.  
"Just look at me" She said, giving me a soothing look. I stayed still, Even though I was focused on jess, I could tell the needle was getting closer. Then...something happened, I could see my hand disappearing, and Jess's hand falling through it.

"Wha...What's happening" I said, being able to slightly see through my hand, and then I noticed I was levitating off the seat slightly.

Dr.Naomi stopped and looked, then walked back, taking the needle away. As I saw, I felt myself coming back, as I dropped an inch onto the seat.

"Was that..." Jess said, looking at me then Dr.Naomi, who nodded.

"It's her gift...She can ghost herself" Dr.Naomi said.  
"It looks like it the fear kicked in and activated it, if she tries, she might be able to control this, or it might only work when she scared to a certain point"

Then, she got out a funny looking thing, it was silver and had a big button, and in the top had lots of holes.

"Aly...I want you to trust me, this will not hurt, and it's designed especially for people with ghosting abilities" Dr Naomi said, as I looked at it, then at my mom.

Jess just looked back, making the decision mine. I knew I needed the test, so I nodded.

"Alright" She said calmly. She walked up to me and knelt down, so she was level with me, as she pressed it against my neck. She pressed the button, and I could feel the slight pressure of something passing through my skin. 5 seconds passed and she took it away, walking back to her desk to put it away.

"Alright, if you'd like to follow me" She said, walking out the room. Me and Jess followed, and walked into another room. There was a bed, but this had sides built up and a top, obviously it was used for scanning.

"If you could just take your clothes off and lay on the bed" She said.

I slowly started to take my clothes off, getting more and more nervous, until I kept ghosting in and out. I gradually stopped and managed to take off the rest of my clothes.

I lay down on the bed as she switched the machine on. They made a slight humming noise as a blue light covered my body. I could feel my body tingle as the light stayed on it, and made it slightly uncomfortable.

"It won't be long, 10 minutes now" Dr.Naomi said, looking at a computer.

After that and the other tests were done, we were sat back in the blue office.

"Right, that's it from me, your tests, they shown us that you're perfectly stable physically" She said, but then looked down.  
"Emotionally...Not so much...We are unable to detect any other emotions, apart from the ones you've displayed whiles being here. I don't know if you had a delayed effect from bursting, or if it's something else. At the moment, all we can do is wait and see." Dr.Naomi said, looking down.

"I'm Sorry" She said, as I starred off onto the ground, starting to ghost.

"Aly.." Jess said, sympathetically.

"I'll get you in touch with a good therapist, If its what we think, then we will do everything we can to support you" Dr.Naomi said.

I remained silent, just staring at the floor I was hovering over

"Come on Aly...I'll take you home" Jess said, leading me to the door.

"Thank You" She said to Dr.Naomi as we left.

We entered the car, and I managed to stop ghosting so she wouldn't drive off with me just phasing through the car.

"Aly...I know it might be bad...But I am always here, and I will support you through this" Jess said, but her words were lost, as I had already escaped reality, falling into sleep.

Chapter 6

"Aly?" Jess said, looking over and seeing her asleep.

Jess sighed and carried on driving.

"It must be hard...To go through all that. I thought it was bad that I wouldn't be able to grow up with the people I loved...But, this is worse" Jess said to herself.

"But even if it takes all my life, if I have to, I'll show her the sunlight once more...I wont let her world be clouded over" Jess said determinedly..

Jess pulled up in the drive way and took the keys out the car. She opened the car door then ran to the house door, opening that. She walked back and picked up Aly from the car seat, carrying her into the house, locking the car after.

Jess carried Aly upstairs and laid her down on the bed.

"She can't really sleep in her clothes" Jess said, as she started undressing her.

"I wonder" Jess said, as she started searching Aly's body. Then stopped when she found it. On the back of her right elbow, they were a couple deep scar lines with a 4 digit number underneath, that looked similar to a barcode.

"2797" Jess said, reading the number. Then Jess quickly ran into her room, and went into a closet. In a box at the bottom, she brought out a black silk Nightgown. She brought it back, and helped Aly into it, putting her arms through the slightly flared sleeves.

She then picked up the school uniform Aly was wearing and left Aly to sleep on top of her bed. She walked downstairs and put the school uniform in to the washing machine and turned it on. She went to the phone next and phoned a number,

"Hello, yes, this is Tyler Dale's mother" She said

"Yeah, her burst was worse than we expected, she may need some time off school. She's also picked out a new name.

Yes, it's Alyxis.

Yeah, I'll phone when were ready to send her back to school, and thank you" Jess said, putting down the phone.

Jess then heard something coming from upstairs. It sounded like Aly. She ran upstairs and ran into Aly's, to see her tossing and turning, tears coming out of her eyes. Jess quickly ran to the side of Aly, trying to calm her down.  
"Aly, wake up, it's just a bad dream" Jess said, trying to shake her slightly, but it wasn't working.  
Then she saw something. It was quick but she was sure. It happened again, but slowing down a bit more so it was more noticeable.

Aly's hair kept on turning pure black, but then kept going back to grey again.

"A...Aly" Jess said, still trying to wake her up.

_I stood there, on the high sea wall. The sea was fierce, crashing into the side, spraying water all over me. Dark clouds filled the sky, and the sun was no where to be seen._

_I looked around, and saw myself, but not as I was now, how I use to be, before the burst._

_The other me just stared at me, then turned his head away from me in disgust, fading away into nothing. I walked forward, to where the other me had stood, when I felt someone behind me. I turned around, and recognised the sight. It was me once more...But right after I burst. The blond, blue eyed me._

_I took a few steps towards the other me, and stuck me hand out. My hand was shaking, I was afraid. The dark clouds made a thunderous roar, and heavy rain started falling from the sky._

_The blond me stared at me, then started changing. The blond hair grew dull, and eventually turned into black hair, as did the eyes._

_My whole body was shaking. I didn't like her; she scared me, a lot more than anything else had. I tried ghosting, but still wasn't able to, and the fear hadn't kick started it yet_

_I turned and ran away, I had no idea where I was going, but I kept on running. I was afraid to look back, so I kept my head forward and running. I saw two people in the distance. It was Jay and Danni._

_"J..Jay..Danni?" I said, looking at them. They smiled peacefully, but said nothing. I felt someone behind me, but this didn't chill me._

_It was Katie, and my mom.  
"Katie...Jess" I said, starting to calm down._

_None of them spoke a word, they just stood there smiling._

_Then a real fear broke through me. In the distance, I could see it. Darkness. Darkness was creeping towards us, I looked around and it was circling in on us. There was no where to escape to._

_Suddenly, the darkness lunged out, grabbing Jay and Danni, as they screamed. I turned around to see the same happening to Katie and Jess, and soon, their screams were silence._

_Tears leaked through my eyes, as the darkness spread towards me._

_It had almost caught me, and I screamed. But, my body started to ghost, as the darkness lunged for me, it went straight through, concealing off any light. I suddenly fell, with no platform underneath my feet. I fell through the darkness..._

Somehow, Aly had activated her ghosting in her sleep. And was now floating near the ceiling. Without any warning, she suddenly screamed, as her body dropped.

"Aly!" Jess said, jumping for her, but just phasing through.

She then heard a crash downstairs. Jess ran downstairs and into the kitchen, to see Aly laid there, her eyes open.  
"Aly, are you alright?" Jess asked, as she rushed to her, kneeling down.

"A..Aly?" Jess said, seeing her eyes.

Aly's eyes were glossed over in black, but it soon faded back into the grey.

"M..Mom" Aly said, lunging towards her, crying to Jess's shoulder.

"Shhh. Its alright, it was just a nightmare" Jess said, comforting her.

"Everything's okay" She soothed her, stroking her hair.

Several hours had now passed, and I was starting to calm down. The dream I had truly scared me. Just the intensity of the darkness, bringing out the depression from with in me. I didnt like it.

It was around 9pm. My mom was sitting in a chair watching MTV on the television. I was laid down on the sofa, hugging a cushion and Jess looked over me.  
"Were going to have to find you something better to hug, your going to end up ruining all the pillows and cushions." Jess said jokingly, and smiled.

I smiled slightly, then my eyes widend.

"Mom" I said, as i felt funny, I looked down and my skin felt fuzzy again.

I was flooded with emotions that had laid dorment, my mind was racing, having to deal with the new emotions.

"Your hair" Jess said.

"Its brown, Hazlenut brown" She said, as I was starting to calm down.

I looked up at her.

"I cant...I cant handle it" I said in a whisper, breathing heavily. My arms were shaking slightly.

"Just relax" Jess said, as I laid down. I took a deep breth in, and then one out. And with that, the emotions left me, only leaving those that i had before.

"Im sorry...I had some emotions back...but they escaped again" I appologised, looking down, seeing my hair back gray.

"Dont be, you tried your best, just give it time" Jess said smiling, stroking my hair, as she knew from when i was little that calmed me down.

"Anyway, this might mean you might not be stuck with those emotions" She said, smiling, which made me smile slightly.

"So" Jess said, standing up.

"Do you feel like going shopping tomorrow?" She asked, walking back towards her chair.

"I guess.." I said. I was still scared, but I knew that I hadnt got many clothes.

"Alright, well I put your uniform in the washing machine, but I think you could borrow some of my clothes tomorrow. I think were about same size now, you might be a little smaller." Jess said, sitting in her chair.  
"Alright" I said, starting to hug the cushion again.


	4. Chapter 7 & 8

Chapter 7

Night came and passed, and I was alright, not having another nightmare.

I woke up in the morning, and slowly got up and walked into the mirror. I looked at it and was surprised.

My hair and eyes were brown, but once again, I got the flood of emotion. I dropped to my knee's, trying to control it, but couldn't.

I once again took another deep breath, as the emotions left me, leaving me once again, gray.

I decided not to tell Jess this time, it would only worry her. I gathered myself up and looked at the mirror, still disliking the reflection that looked back.

"Aly, Are you awake?" I heard Jess say at the door.

"Y..Yeah" I said, as she entered.

"Here, I've picked these out, I think you might like them" Jess said, handing me a small pile of clothes.

"Thank you" I said quietly, as jess gave me a small smile and walked out, to allow me to get changed.

The clothes she gave me were a black and white tripped top, with a black t-shirt with a picture of a white wing to go over it. She also gave me some semi flared black jeans and a black hoody, in case it got cold. I set them down on the bed as I walked into the on suit shower, turning it on.

_If were going shopping, then you need to take a shower_

I remembered Jess telling me.

I stepped into the shower, the warm water warming up my skin.

I gave myself and good clean, and washed my hair. It took around 15 minutes before I stepped out the shower, grabbing a towel and wrapping it around so that everything was covered.

I walked back into my bedroom and got my hair dryer out. Even before my burst, I took good care of my hair, it seemed like that trait lived on.

It took another 15 minutes for my hair to dry, I then got dressed and slowly walked down the stairs. I entered the kitchen, seeing Jess make some toast.

She turned around and saw me, and smiled.

"You look very nice dear" she said then smirked.  
"But don't think your keeping those" she said jokingly, making me smile a little.

Half an hour later, after we were fully ready, we were in the car.

"So, do you know what clothes you like, have any ideas?" Jess asked, as I shook my head.  
"I guess were just going to have to see what suits you then" Jess said smiling.

We drove passed a sign that said 'Welcome to The Tarason City Mall', which made me all the more nervous.

Jess parked the car and got out, but I just stayed there, not wanting to get out.

"Aly..Whats wrong?" Jess said, seeing me not move.  
"I...I can't do this" I said, my hand slightly shaking.

"Alyx...Were going to need to do this sometime, and we're already here...Once we're done we'll leave straight away" Jess said, as I sat there.

"Alright" I said, about to open the car door when I accidently ghosted, falling through it. I stood up, the best I could when ghosting, and followed her in.

I couldn't bring myself out of the ghost, I was full of nerves.

We walked through the mall, looking around for shops. I instantly knew which shops I wouldn't like. 5 minutes in, I found a shop I liked a little and we decided to go look. By now I had ghosted out, which was good because I could at least try on the clothes.

Throughout all the shops we went in, Jess saw a pattern emerging that I didn't. I always went with clothes which were predominately black, and it seemed my favourite combination was black and purple.

"So is there anywhere else you want to go?" Jess asked, but I suddenly ghosted, seeing 2 guys walk up.

"Hey, you 2 look pretty hot, want to hang with us" One of them said. The both of them were about my age.

"Hey, what's up with her?" The other one said, pointing at me as I ghosted. I quickly hid behind Jess, not being able to say anything.

"Sorry, she's just really shy around new people" Jess said smiling.

"Sorry boys, we have a lot more stuff to do, maybe some other time" Jess said with a smile. She liked it when young guys talked to her; I guess it made her feel young.

"Alright, see you later girls" The first one said, as they both walked away.

"Its alright, they're going now" Jess said, turning around, and then her eyes opening wide.  
I was stood there unghosted, with a slight angered look on my face.

"Why the hell did you tell them maybe some other time, if they see us again, we can't exactly say the same thing again" I said, in an annoyed tone.

"Your hair...Your eyes" Jess said, pointing towards a mirror that was in a shop window. I turned around and looked, seeing myself. I had fierce red eyes and dark ginger hair.

"Great...I'm fucking ginger" I said, rolling my eyes.

"Are you..Okay?" Jess said, obviously seeing me annoyed.  
"Oh yeah, I'm fucking farting rainbows" I said and sighed deeply.

"I'm going back to the car" I said, walking off.

"But we still need to get you some more stuff" Jess said, following me.  
"Fuck it, I'll come back another time to get them" I said, and continued walking.

"Alright" Jess said, giving up, seeing the new me was very stubborn.

As we got in the car, I sighed deeply again.

"Look, I'm sorry, I just want to go home, I don't like it in there" I said, still a slight annoyed tone to my voice, as I crossed my arms.

"Aly, it's alright" Jess said, calming down a little.

"Don't call me fucking Aly, Its Alyx, I'm not 5" I said, knowing my own hypocrisy, but ignoring it.

Jess just nodded, which was a smart thing to do, since I was easily annoyed.

I headed inside and took my bags upstairs, slamming my bedroom door shut after me. I went to my closet and just threw mostly everything out, and just left my new clothes at a pile at the bottom of my closet.

"That'll fucking do" I said, then saw the plush toy I had got. It was a pure black chibi style cat. I looked at it and threw it across my room, it hitting my wall and falling onto my desk. I disgusted myself with even wanting something so childish.

"Urh, I had to be ginger" I said, now looking at myself in the mirror.

"At least it isn't atomic ginger, just kind of dull and dark" I said, moderately thankful.

"What's up with me" I said, closing my eyes.

"This must be something to do with the burst. No doubt Jess has made me another fucking appointment, not like I wasn't nervous at all last time" I said, breathing out heavily.

"And I've got to go see a head doctor, oh how much fun that will be" I said sarcastically. I walked away from the mirror and fell onto my bed.

"Through these eyes

I see only red

And I am a bull

I charge without warning

I strike when it's not necessary

And say fucking profanities!" I said, giving out my poetry skill.

"Fuck does that suck" I said, getting angry at myself for not being able to do it.

I then felt that same feeling again, the flood of emotions, I could feel everything coming back.

I sprung up and looked in mirror, my hair was already brown but my eyes were still red.

"Fucking come on" I said, trying to keep myself together. I screamed in a mix of anger and pain and then fell to my knees, panting.

I could feel it, but I needed to check. I looked into the mirror, my eyes were a hazelnut brown colour, and completely calm. They only stayed like that for a few seconds though, as the red eventually burnt back through, and I felt the anger with in me.

"FUCK!" I screamed, seeing my ginger hair return.

"Alyx, what's wrong?" Jess came in, obviously hearing the noise.  
"I had it, I fucking had it then I just fucking crumbled, I...I" I said, but all my energy just left me, making me collapse onto the floor.

Chapter 8

I woke up and looked around, not seeing much in the darkness. I checked the clock and saw it was 3am. I sighed quietly. I didn't need a mirror, I knew I was already grey, I felt the same cold emotions that I was almost getting use to. I sat up and looked down, feeling pressure on the blanket. Jess had stayed and looked over me all this time. She probably got tired and fell to sleep by accident. I got up and got a spare blanket out of my closet, putting it over Jess. I walked up to my desk, getting a torch and my cat plushie. I walked down stairs, using the torch to light my way. I went into the living room, and curled up on the sofa, switching the television on, but keeping the lights off.

I hugged the plush toy tightly as I stared blankly at the television screen. Flicking through the channels, trying to find something that I would like. I stopped at a comedy channel, and started watching some stand up comedy. I lightly giggled at some of the jokes, but I was only fooling myself. I was trying to force myself to be happy, but it obviously wasn't working.

I spent a lot of time thinking, thinking about all the different me's.

There was the grey me, the one who I am now. I was Self conscious, nervous and scared. I needed the support of others a lot.

Then there were the Red Me, the one who I became earlier. I shuddered at that thought, remembering how I went off earlier. I felt bad about talking that way to Jess, when she's only tried to help me. I would do something to pay her back. I would try to gain a bit of confidence; try not to need her so much so I wouldn't be as much of a pain.

I got back to thinking about the other me, the blond haired, blue eyed one. The happy me, where the sun shone brightly, with not a cloud in the sky.

Finally, there was the me that I couldn't control. The one with all the emotions, the hazelnut brown one. That one seemed more balanced, but it put too much strain on me. The times when I've turned into that one, I haven't been able to hold it. I noticed when ever I changed Hair and eye colour, my main emotions changed with it, but I didn't change personalities. In the end it was still my thoughts, it's just that they altered with the strong emotion which inhabited me at the time.

I then started to think how many times I had changed. It seemed that the gray me was much more frequent than the rest. I had only been blond once, and I had only been red once. I'd been grey the most amount of times and for the longest. I had tried to turn hazelnut brown about 3 times, but I either wasn't able to do it or couldn't hold it for long.

I spent that much time thinking stuff over, that I hadn't noticed the sun had risen. I heard someone running upstairs, hearing Jess say something, but I couldn't tell what.

She came running into the living room, picking up the phone, looking nervous.

"Jess, what's wrong?" I said, a little scared by her actions.

"I think Aly's ghosted in her sleep and ended up somewhere" Jess said, starting to dial a number, but then stopped and looked at me.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING DOWN HERE!" She said, probably angrier than she meant to, because her yelling scared me into ghosting as I ran out the house.

I ran out of there as fast as I can, I couldn't take just being yelled at. I found a small forest near my house as I sat on one of the tree branches, bringing my knees up to my chest and hugging them, as I cried softly. I couldn't understand why she would suddenly yell, if I was a different me, then maybe, but right now, it had really upset me. I sat there, trying to think of something I had done wrong, but I couldn't. And the more I thought, the more it seemed like she had yelled at me for no reason.

My hand was trembling, and I could hear unfamiliar voices in the background.

"Sara, are you sure it's this way" I heard someone say, who was walking underneath from where I was sitting. It looked like 2 girls, their clothes were a little scruffy and they both had big bags on.

"Pretty sure...but I lost the map" The other girl said, scratching her head. She was dressed in all black and had long black hair that went just passed her shoulders.

The first girl had shorter red hair, and was dressed more normal.

The first girl was about to say something, when she looked up and saw me. As I saw she saw me, I jumped a little and my breathing picked up, but it seemed she jumped and hid behind the gothic girl.

"Excuse me?" The gothic girl said, moving a bit of hair out of her face.

"U..Uh yeah"? I said, still trembling a little.

"You wouldn't know where the next town is would you?" She said, softly and calmly, probably being able to tell I was a little scared.

"Um..Y..Yeah...but its a little confusing the forest" I said. This was known as Polyfork Woods to some people, because there was that many turns. Outsiders normally got lost around this forest, which is one of the reasons why not many people go visit Tarason.

I decided what to do; I needed to get out more, build my confidence up. I jumped down, slowly hovering down and then unghosting a couple inches from the bottom. They looked a little startled, probably not seeing these things that often.

"I...I can show you.." I said, starting to walk.

The plain girl looked a little hesitant, but it seemed like the gothic one reassured her, though the plainer one still kept behind the gothic one.

"I'm Sara, and this is my..friend, Ryan" The gothic one, Sara, said, motioning to himself then the other girl.

"I'm...Aly" I said a little quietly.

My hand was shaking slightly, but I still kept walking. I wanted to talk, because there was a weird silence.  
"So, do you live in the town?" Sara asked.

"Y..Yeah, it's called Tarason" I said, a little louder, but you could still notice the nervousness of my voice.

"Ah, I was wondering what it would be called; I've never been around this area before" Sara said, and carried on talking.  
"I've been travelling for a few years now, I love travelling. A lot of the time I was on my own, but I sometimes met some people who would travel with me. Of course, something always happened, and they always stopped" Sara said, ad looked back at Ryan.

"But this time it's going to be different, I know it" Sara said, as Ryan wrapped her arms around one of his.

I said nothing and carried on walking. I was feeling slightly envious. I wished I had someone like that I could rely on. There was Jess, but no matter how young she looked, she was still my mom, and I couldn't keep on relying on her.

We got to the forest entrance and there was a dirt path leading up to a road, with a few buildings.

"If you keep going forward, you'll find it no problem" I said quietly, pointing.

"Thank you, but aren't you coming with us?" Sara asked.

I was about to answer, but I heard a car screech up which made me jump a bit. Jess got out and ran towards me.

My hand was shaking as she ran near, but then I noticed it wasn't anger on her face.

"Aly, are you okay, I'm so sorry" Jess said, wrapping her arms around me, pulling me in for a hug.

"I didn't mean to shout at you before, I was just worried when I woke up and you were missing. I thought you might have activated your ghosting again in your sleep and be lord knows where" Jess said. I could feel her shaking, she really had been scared.

"I..I'm Sorry" I said, hugging her back and starting to cry. I never knew that she would have gotten this upset. After a few minutes, we both calmed down. I looked around but didn't see Sara or Ryan, they had obviously already gone.

"Why were you with those 2 people?" Jess asked, noticing me looking around.

"I was helping them get through the forest. They were lost." I explained, wiping the rest of my tears away.

"That's my girl...I'm proud of you" Jess said, as we started to walk back to the car.  
"Oh...I know you might not be up for it...But we have an appointment at the clinic" Jess said, looking over at me.

"I expected this...lets go" I said, getting in the car.

I was starring out the window as Jess nodded, starting the car.


End file.
